Civil War Sesquicentennial

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11.01.12

January marks the 150th anniversary of the movement toward the Civil War. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina declared secession from the Union; in January five states followed suit: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana.

Virginia was not among the first secessioners. In fact, in an article published in the Richmond Times Dispatch January 2, Katherine Calos writes that "Virginia was actively trying to hold the Union together".

"That may come as a surprise in 2011, when Monument Avenue serves as a reminder that Richmond was the capital of the breakaway Confederate States of America. But 150 years ago, the state voted pro-Union by a 2-to-1 margin when it elected delegates to a secession convention that began deliberations in mid-February."

Virginia delegates continued to oppose secession until April 17, following the fall of Fort Sumter to the Confederates and President Lincoln’s call for volunteers from each state. Then the vote flipped, 88 for and 55 opposed to secession. Citizens ratified the vote 5 to 1 on May 23. At that point, Virginia was admitted to the Confederate States of America and Richmond became the capital.

The road toward secession is the subject of two big exhibits introducing a four-year commemoration of the Civil War. One, "The Struggle to Decide: Virginia’s Secession Crisis", is at the Visitor Center at the State Capitol, a companion to one at the Library of Virginia, and the other, "An American Turning Point: the Civil War in Virginia", opens February 4 at the Virginia Historical Society. Many other exhibits, re-enactments, scholarly discussions, tours, and living history programs are set to take place during the next four years to memorialize the war that preceded emancipation for slaves and reunion of the nation.

Eric Foner’s The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and slavery is a highly praised examination of Lincoln’s evolving views on race and slavery. Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals touts Lincoln’s ability to understand his political competitors and motivate them to apply their abilities to the most difficult task before the nation. Jay Winik makes clear that the outcome of the Civil War was by no means pre-determined, but came about as a result of a chain of small and unexpected incidents, in his fascinating April 1865: the month that saved America.